From Rabash’s article, “Love of Friends”: And a certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying: ‘What seekest thou?’ And he said: ‘I seek my brethren. Tell me, I pray thee, where they are feeding the flock’” (Genesis, 37).

A person who’s lost his way in the field of life cannot live like that for a long time. He seeks advice and people who are similar to him, his brothers. He feels that he has to find another path, but not on the corporeal dimension where he exists like an animal; rather, this path should help him above this life and become human.

That’s why he is looking for those who “feed the flock,” meaning control their animals. He wants to join them and become their brother so that they teach him how to be a “shepherd” and how to rise above the animal within him.

He feels that he’s lost his way in the field, that he is that very “animal,” the wondering donkey (“donkey,” Hamor in Hebrew, is derived from the word Homer, “matter, substance”). A person wants to elevate a human within him by freeing himself from the “animal’s” rule. That’s why he seeks people that control their “animals” and who can help him strengthen himself on this path. They are his brothers, and he is looking for them!

A man “wandering in the field [desire]” refers to a place from which the crop of the field [life’s results] … should spring. “Animals” (people without a higher goal) are wondering in the field to sustain themselves here and now. But how do I find the path that turns me into a “human” and acquire “…the crop [spiritual power and knowledge] of the field to sustain the world [bring it spiritual life]?

And the works of the field are plowing, sowing, and reaping. This is the work of a “human” through which he gets fulfillment. It is said about that: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.…” It stands for the hard work that we do with tears in our eyes, getting good results only at the end. We have to press forward despite the tears and all the heaviness, and hence need strong support from the environment. … and this is called “a field which the Lord has blessed.”

A person cries over the animal within him, which he has to rid himself of and rise to the spiritual level. For that he needs strong support that allows him to hold onto spirituality rather than the material world that pulls him down. This is the Creator’s blessing from which we obtain the power to advance.

A person who “wanders in the field” is a person who got lost within his reason. He doesn’t know what to do next. He feels clearly that he doesn’t want to live by the “animal criteria” of good and evil, since such life is nevertheless “animate,” within the bounds of the same “field.”

However, how can I rise from the level of a “donkey” (substance, matter) to the “human” one? I’m unaware of the real path that leads me there. I have to find an external force that will pull me out of my animate level, much like a sprouting seed that needs a fertile soil. I am unable to do it by myself. I’m under the total control of my “animal” and have no chance whatsoever to break free from my animal life. Unless some external force pulls me out of it, upward, toward a new dimension, I will end my days as an animal.

That’s why I exercise my freedom of choice and join a Kabbalistic group defined by love of friends. I understand that without them, I can’t advance. Love is when everybody feels that the group is more important for him than his own “donkey.” The group is his “human” level. With its help, he will reach the adhesion with the Creator and become similar to Him. Yet, this is under the condition that a person will turn himself to the group so as to receive the strength from it and rise above his “donkey” to the “human” level.

The Light that comes through the group builds a “human” within me. The group turns into my “body,” while the Light that fills it becomes the Light of my life. The only way to reach this state is love of friends, whereby I love them more than myself. They are the parts of my soul, while I am only my “donkey,” matter. By mutually supporting each other, we can help each of us to become “human.”

The forces that prevent you from connecting with friends are called “exile.” We feel “exile” when we yearn to connect with the group, yet we can’t. Pharaoh is sitting within us and rules over the nation of Israel within me.

However, by aspiring to love of friends, we become worthy of coming out of the Egyptian exile and receiving the Torah: the very force that unites us. The story of the people of Israel in Egypt and their wandering in the desert is the story of one’s correction from one’s very first spiritual point to reaching the land of Israel, the desire called “Israel” (straight to the Creator).

From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/10, Article “Love of Friends”

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